Sugar Cookies & Icing Recipe

My wife gave me an odd look when I mentioned getting input from GRM but this is the place for every bit of info.  I am looking for a good tasting sugar cookie and icing recipe.  For years I have wanted to make them at Christmas time but have not found the time.  This year i have extra PTO and want to tackle this.

Does anyone have a tested recipe they could share with me?

Thanks to you all!

I grew up with spritz cookies at the holidays--little hint of almond makes them special, and they're great for decorating: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/classic-spritz-cookies/aa68df04-bd64-4f1b-8421-0df82064bca4

My mom always either used the dough in a cookie press, or if she was making chocolate ones to fill with peppermint icing, she made logs out of the dough, chilled and sliced. I still do the same. These are endlessly modifiable and just taste like Christmas to me. And if you make them with kids, the cookie press is just fun to use. 

Margie

Hi.  This is Heather, Matthew's wife.  I have 2 sugar cookie recipe's...I will give you both...I can't decide which one I like best.  Please comment on which one you like better, if you end up making both!

Recipe 1

400 degrees for 8 minutes

2/3 cup shortening
1.5 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbls. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend together, then add:

1/2 tsp. salt
2.5 tsp. baking powder
3 1/4 cup flour

Cool in fridge.  Roll out to use cookie cutter

Recipe 2:

375 degrees for 5-9 minutes

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 Tbls. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder

Break and roll into balls and roll in wax paper.  Refrigerate till cool (should be less than an hour).

Roll out and use cookie cutter.  Bake.

 I do not have the recipe for the frosting for the cookies.  Honestly, I just look up the royal icing for sugar cookies and you get ones that are amazing each time. 

Hope it helps,

Merry Christmas,

Heather

My wife is the baker (but I am the taster).

The secret to great sugar cookies is a little almond extract.

And that is about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

Spritz cookies with almond extract are great. Marge's recipe is about what I've used.

The other tip - always use real butter, never Crisco. There's a huge, noticeable difference. That includes icing; making it from confectioner's sugar, butter, and a little milk is amazing.

Thank you for the ideas! I started taking notes on the stuff listed here.  I want to find some egg substitutes so my 1.5 year old can enjoy too but thats my mission.

Thank you all for the recipes!

It's interesting to find out so many other people grew up eating spritzes.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

It's because spritz cookies are delicious!

And CarKid, MadScientistMatt has the basics down: always use real butter, add a little almond extract, proceed to cookie win.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

sleepywife made them once and added, or replaced?, the almond with mint or peppermint... and then half-dipped them in dark chocolate.

that was a good Christmas.  ymmv.

I don't think I've ever had a spritz cookie. I don't think I've ever even heard of it before. Crap, now I have to make some. 

Edit: oooooooo, now that I actually follow the link they look familiar. I never knew that's what they were called. 

For sugar cookies, this year I'm trying a "thick and cakey" recipe I found. The one at the bottom of this page. I'll probably do a peanut butter butter cream, and I have a jar of fluffy white cake icing to frost them with. I'm not a fan of royal icing. 

I started making the rest of the Xmas cookie list today, 3 types down, 5 or 6 now counting spritz to go. 

Molasses, peanut butter, chocolate and caramel chip, oatmeal chocolate chip, coconut macaroons, sugar cookies, chocolate no bakes, and now spritz. 

sleepyhead the buffalo said:

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

sleepywife made them once and added, or replaced?, the almond with mint or peppermint... and then half-dipped them in dark chocolate.

that was a good Christmas.  ymmv.

My mom used to make one batch with cocoa and extra sugar added to the dough to make chocolate cookies, then made buttercream frosting with peppermint extract and used that as the filling in the chocolate sandwich cookies. One year Katie and I made those and half-dipped the filled cookies in chocolate. They were good.

We have an old family cookie recipe that uses baking ammonia, rather than baking powder, which imparts a unique flavor. I never thought about it before reading through this, but I now find myself wondering how it might work to substitute into other recipes... Like the spritz cookies. I might have to experiment with that this year. 

matthewmcl said:

Hi.  This is Heather, Matthew's wife  

Recipe 1

400 degrees for 8 minutes

2/3 cup shortening
1.5 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbls. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend together, then add:

1/2 tsp. salt
2.5 tsp. baking powder
3 1/4 cup flour

Cool in fridge.  Roll out to use cookie cutter

 

Heather

 

Update!

made the dough for this one tonight. We'll see tomorrow how it goes

So, I found out that sleepymom uses a recipe out of the 1963 edition of the Pillsbury Family Cookbook...

which includes dashes of almond and vanilla (while their online versions says 'either').

Unfortunately sleepymom over-buttered the mix this year, and they ended up a bit wilted.  Still tasted good, imho.